Heater for liquid cooling system of internal-combustion engines



July 4, 1950 R. G. WILLIAMS HEATER FOR LIQUID COOLING SYSTEM OF INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINES Flled Oct 5, 1947 Inventor s m m Wv 6 I u M 0 R Patented July 1, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE HEATER FOR LIQUID COOLING SYSTEM OF INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINES Robert Williams, Cicero, 111. Application October 3, 1947, Serial No. 777,669

1 Claim. 1

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in heaters for liquid cooling systems of internal combustion engines and the primary object of the present invention is to provide a heater for the liquid coolingsystem of an automobile that will heat the liquid of the system at such a temperature that the engine may be quickly and readily started and will operate efficiently in cold weather.

Another important object of the present invention is to provide a heater for the liquid cooling system of an automobile that-will preheat the cooling liquid of the engine block, thus-preventing excessive wear on the moving parts of the engine and eliminating undue strain upon the vehicle battery.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a heater of the aforementioned nature including a burner chamber and novel and improved means for automatically extinguishing the burner flame upon the starting of the engine.

A further aim of the present invention is to provide a heater for liquid cooling system of automobiles that is simple and practical in construction, strong and reliable in use, neat and attractive in appearance, relatively inexpensive to manufacture, and otherwise well adapted for the purposes for which the same is intended.

Other objects and advantages reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawing forming part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

Figure l is a fragmentary side elevational view of thefront end of an automobile, and showing the present invention applied thereto;

Figure 2 is a longitudinal Vertical sectional view of the present unit, and with parts of the outlet conduit and inlet conduit broken away and shown in section;

Figure 3 is a front elevational view of the present heater, and showing the same applied to the engine block (shown in section) and,

Figure 4 is a plan View of the burner showing the manner in which the chamber door is secured thereto.

Referring now to the drawing in detail, wherein for the purpose of illustration, there is disclosed a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the numeral It) represents the forward end of an automobile comprising a radiator l2, an internal combustion engine M, an upper radiator hose l6, and a fan l8.

Removably secured by a fastener to the upper face of the engine block 22, are the ends 24 of a band 26 that tightly embrace a heating chamber or outer jacket 28 having a concavoconvex upper wall 30.

.Integrally formed with the upper wall 30, is an outlet nipple 32 that engages one end of an outlet conduit or tube 34 that is suitably tapped into the rear portion of the engine block 22 at one side thereof.

Projecting outwardly from one side of the chamber 28, is an inlet nipple 36 that engages one end of an inlet. conduit or tube 38 that is suitably tapped into the forward face of the engineblock 22. I An" internally threaded air or pressure relief vent 40 is provided in the upper wall of the chamber and receivably engages a removable closure plug 42 for normally closing the air vent.

The numeral 44 represents a tubular inner chamber or jacket that is closed at its upper end, the lower end of the chamber 44 is turned outwardly to provide an attaching flange 46 that is rigidly secured to the inner periphery of the heating chamber 28, with the side walls of the inner chamber spaced relative to the side walls of the heating chamber 28, and with the flange 46 spaced relative to the bottom wall 48 of the heating chamber.

An arcuate opening 50 is provided in one side of the heating chamber 28 adjacent the bottom wall 48 thereof. An arcuate door 52 embracing the lower periphery of the heating chamber 28 normally closes the opening 50. Fixedly secured to the inner face of the door 52 is a plurality of supporting arms 54 that are rigidly secured to a burner 56 with the feed valve 58 of the burner being journaled in the door and extending outwardly therefrom. A finger grip 60 carried by the door is provided for removing the door and burner from the heating chamber when desirable. The base of the burner is normally supported in an elevated position relative to the bottom wall of the heating chamber, by a perforated plate 62 fixedly carried by the-inner periphery of the heating chamber, and air inlet slots 64 are provided in the heating chamber between its bottom wall 48 and the plate 62.

Rigidly secured to the inner chamber and communicating with the interior of the inner chamber, is a forward inlet conduit or pipe 66 and a rear, oppositely disposed outlet pipe 68, that extend outwardly from the heating chamber from opposite sides. The forward inlet pipe 66 is provided with a funnelor flared projection 10 that oppose the fan I 8, so that when the engine is started and the fan actuated, air will be forced into the inner chamber to extinguish the burner flame I2.

In practical use of the device, the cooling fluid in the engine block 22 will enter the inlet conduit 38 and hence the heating chamber 28, from whence it will pass outwardly from the outlet conduit 34 to the rear portion of the engine block. By such a procedure, the cooling fluid of the engine block is preheated, thus permitting the efiicient operation and starting of the engine,

which when once accomplished, the fan will extinguish the burner flame to prevent undue operation of the burner.

In view of the foregoing description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing it is believed that a clear understanding of the construction, operation and advantages of the, device will be quite apparent to those skilled in this art. A more detailed description is accordingly deemed unnecessary.

It is to be understood, however, that even though there is herein shown and described a preferred embodiment of the invention the same is susceptible to certain changes fully comprehended by the spirit of the invention as herein described and the scope of the appended claim.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

A heater for the liquid cooling system of an internal combustion engine including a heating chamber having a concavo-convexed upper wall, an air vent provided in the upper wall, a closure plug normally engaging said air vent, an outlet nipple at the upper Wall, an outlet tube carried by said outlet nipple, an inlet nipple at one side of said chamber, an inlet tube carried by said inlet nipple, a burner mounted in said chamber, an inner chamber carried by said heating chamber, the walls of said inner chamber being spaced relative to the walls of said heating chamber, said inner chamber being open at its lower end to receive the frame of said burner, an outlet pipe carried by said inner chamber extending outwardly from said heating chamber, an inlet pipe carried by said inner chamber opposing said outlet pipe, said inlet pipe extending outwardly from said heating chamber, and a funnel at the outer end of said inlet pipe for receiving a flow of air for extinguishing the burner flame.

ROBERT G. WILLIAMS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,258,068 Wetzler Mar. 5, 1918 1,357,598 Thompson Nov. 2, 1920 1,613,347 Ermatinger Jan. 4, 1927 1,857,767 Rentz May 10, 1932 1,871,008 Rentz Aug. 9, 1932 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 143,754 Great Britain June 3, 1920 

